Chapters 1 through 3 Summary and Analysis

Chapter one opened with Malika Oufkir watching as her mother arrived at a party. Malika said that her bond with her mother, Fatima, was probably stronger because of their shared hardships. Fatima's mother had died in childbirth when Fatima was four and Malika had been taken to the palace, adopted by the king, when she was four. Fatima was a wealthy heiress to a vast estate. She was beautiful and her father had become adept at warding off men interested in her. Malika's father was Muhammad Oufkir. He was born in 1920 and served in the French Army. Fatima and Muhammad married in 1952 and were wildly in love. Malika was the first child born ten months after the wedding. She was followed by another daughter, Myriam who was called Mimi, and then a son named Raouf. Muhammad quickly rose in...